Greetings, Wonderphiles!
Fair Warning: This week’s column is about a highly divisive topic and is completely my opinion and my opinion alone. I certainly don’t mean to offend anyone. I welcome any constructive feedback or opinion on the topic.
We now return to your regularly scheduled episode of Wonder Woman Wednesday.
Hola! It seems not too long ago we were debating whether or not Wonder Woman should carry a sword or not. On one hand, she comes from the world of sword and sorcery, so it isn’t completely inappropriate for her to be carrying one, especially in times she is battling a mythical monster or demon that would require said weapon. On the other hand, she doesn’t really need one, especially when she’s walking around the city. Those things are long and pointy. You wouldn’t want to poke anyone’s eye out, or accidentally chop off their head by spinning around too fast! (Hey, you never know when you might have to suddenly become Diana Prince on the spot. Hmmm… I wonder what happens to the sword in that situation? Perhaps it turns into an umbrella?)
Anyway, I was scrolling through my Facebook page when I saw the worst thing I could possibly imagine. Worse than copy and paste spam? Yes!!! It was an advertisement for a Wonder Woman gun from Glocks.com!
Say what!!!
How the? Who the? Huh? This doesn’t make any sense. Now, as an avid Wonder Woman collector, I realize there’s a wide variety of Wonder Woman merchandise out there: some questionable, some of it down right frightening. But this is a matter of principle. Okay, here’s where we possibly start disagreeing.
I don’t know if DC Comics licensed the WW logo to be turned into a glock or they just pictured a custom design – either way, no es bueno. I would like to think that DC DID NOT let WW’s image be used in such a fashion, although it wouldn’t be 100% surprising, given the angle they seem to be guiding Wonder Woman over the past few years.
Disagree?
DC Collectibles has a long-running line of WW statues called “The Art of War.” It’s beautiful merchandise, but I just don’t see the need for the “war” theme. In my mind, WW has always been more about finding solutions through peaceful means. Then, we had the revelation of Wonder Woman’s DCU cinematic debut in Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman. Fans were concerned by the fact that she was brandishing a sword (something she’s done only on occasion in the comic book world).
Fans were also concerned by the dark, muted palette of Wonder Woman’s costume. A stark contrast to the bright, star-spangled panties she wears in the funny pages. This seemed a bad omen for a dark Wonder Woman that no one has much desire to see. Luckily, Gal Gadot was a bright light in BVS and undoubtedly stole the show and gave fans hope for her solo flick out later this year.
And we also have a book of prose fiction coming with yet another re-telling of wonder Woman’s origin in a novel titled “War Bringer.”
Really? Come on!
I know I’m a peace-loving hippy, and I have no problem with the 2nd Amendment and all that, but this just seems wrong. This just seems to go against the very fiber of what Wonder Woman stands for. Creator Dr. William Moulton Marston dreamed life into a Wonder Woman at a time when little girls desperately needed a role model to stand along male counterparts like Superman and Batman.
Wonder Woman has a magic lasso that brings forth one of the greatest assets someone could utilize: the truth! Wonder Woman has a tiara that can be fashioned into a boomerang that can knock the weapon out of an opponent’s hand (or just looks cute sitting on one’s head). And Wonder Woman has bracelets. Bracelets that can deflect one of the greatest weapons blighting mankind: bullets.
So, there’s that. You don’t need a semi-automatic glock to be Wonder Woman. And you shouldn’t want to.
See you next week! Check out and like the “I Am Wonder Fan” Facebook page.
